The Numismatic Chronicle 171 Offprint - Royal Numismatic Society

THE CONFUCIAN MESSAGE ON VIETNAMESE COINS 393
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng 179 and Tự Đức 180 eras.
This text is taken from the chapter Li yun in the Book of Rites (Liji) which says that
owing to the good government of the sage kings (sheng wang 聖王), ‘Heaven does
not care too much about its rules, Earth does not care too much about its treasures,
man does not care too much about his attachment [to the prince]’ (gu tian bu ai qi dao,
di bu ai qi bao, ren bu ai qi qing 故天不愛道,地不愛其寶,人不愛其情). 181
41. 追琢其章,金玉其相 Truy trác kỳ chương, kim ngọc kỳ tương
Ch. Zhui zhuo qi zhang, jin yu qi xiang // His emblems are chiselled in metal and
stone, they are made of gold and of jade.
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng 182 and Thiệu Trị 183 eras.
This is a quote from the poem Yupu in the Book of Odes (Shijing) which says, referring
to King Wen of Zhou, ‘His emblems are chiselled in metal and stone, they are made
of gold and of jade. Our king is ceaseless in his activity, he establishes rules for all
the empire.’ (zhui zhuo qi zhang, jin yu qi xiang, mianmian wo wang, gang ji si fang
追琢其章,金玉其相,勉勉我王,綱紀四方). 184 A variant of this is found in the
chapter Fu guo 富國 by Xunzi 荀子 in the form diao zhuo qi zhang 調琢其章,金
玉其相 which has the same meaning. 185
42. 王道蕩蕩,聖謨洋洋 Vương đạo đãng đãng, Thánh mô dương dương
Ch. Wang dao dang dang, shen mo yang yang // The Way of the King is vast, the
teachings of the Wise man are immense.
Inscription found on coins of the Minh Mạng 186 and Thiệu Trị 187 eras.
The fi rst part comes from The Great Plan 188 (see type 31) and the second from The
Instructions of Yi (Yi Xun 伊訓), both in the Book of Documents (Shujing). 189 The
same idea is also found in The Doctrine of the Mean in the form ‘How vast is the
179 Schroeder, no. 143; AS, III, p. 11; CMV, no. 1552; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 154.
180 CMV, no. 1802; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 192.
181 Liji, IX, p. 373.
182 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 420; Schroeder, Annam. Etudes numismatiques, no. 144; AS,
III, p. 12; WXZ, no. 1470; Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 156.
183 Barker, Historical cash coins of Viêt Nam, no. 171.
184 Shijing, Daya-I-4, p. 331. Waley (Book of Songs, p. 266, no. 249) translates this as ‘Chiselled
and carved are his emblems,/Of bronze and jade are they made./Ceaseless are the labours of our king/
Fashioning the network of all the lands.’
185 Xunzi, X, p. 116.
186 Lacroix, Numismatique annamite, no. 415; Schroeder, Annam. Etudes numismatiques, no. 145;
AMM, no. V76; CMV, no. 1554.
187 CMV, no. 1620.
188 Shujing, IV-4, p. 201.
189 Shujing, III-4, p. 117.